April 15 is the annual deadline for most people to file their federal income tax returns and pay any taxes they owe. By law, the IRS may assess taxpayers' penalties for failing to file a tax return and for failing to pay taxes they owe by the deadline.
Here are eight important points about penalties for filing or paying late.
A failure-to-file penalty may apply if you did not file by the tax filing deadline. A failure-to-pay penalty may apply if you did not pay all of the taxes you owe by the tax filing deadline.
The failure-to-file penalty is generally more than the failure-to-pay penalty. You should file your tax return on time each year, even if you cannot pay all the taxes you owe by the due date. You can reduce additional interest and penalties by paying as much as possible with your tax return. You should explore other payment options, such as getting a loan or making an installment agreement to make payments. The IRS will work with you.
The penalty for filing late is normally 5 percent of the unpaid taxes for each month or part of a late tax return. That penalty starts the day after the tax filing due date and will not exceed 25 percent of your unpaid taxes.
If you do not pay your taxes by the deadline, you will normally face a failure-to-pay penalty of ½ of 1 percent of your unpaid taxes. That penalty applies each month or part of a month after the due date and starts accruing the day after the tax-filing due date.
If you requested an extension of time to file your individual income tax return and paid at least 90 percent of the taxes you owe with your request, you might not face a failure-to-pay penalty. However, you must pay any remaining balance by the extended due date.
If both the 5 percent failure-to-file penalty and the ½ percent failure-to-pay penalties apply in any month, the maximum penalty that you’ll pay for both is 5 percent.
If you file your return more than 60 days after the due date or extended due date, the minimum penalty is the smaller of $135 or 100 percent of the unpaid tax.
You will not have to pay a late-filing or late-payment penalty if you can show reasonable cause for not filing or paying on time.
This information applies to all years of UltimateTax software.
